Victimizing Christians

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Martin Bobgan

Psychological counseling theories and therapies have given Americans a new way of thinking and have turned our country into a therapeutic culture of the self—where the self and how it feels about itself are at the center of meaning. People from coast to coast have embraced a psychological mindset that puts emotional deprivation and woundedness as the root cause of nearly every personal and social problem. This mindset has the potential to make everyone into a victim needing the services of the ever-expanding mental-health system. Fifteen years ago Charles Sykes wrote a book titled A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character, in which he says:

The ethos of victimization has an endless capacity not only for exculpating one’s self from blame, washing away responsibility in a torrent of explanation—racism, sexism, rotten parents, addiction, and illness—but also for projecting guilt onto others.1

Sykes also says, “The impulse to flee from personal responsibility and blame others seems far more deeply embedded within the American culture.”2 In fact, he declares, “The National Anthem has become The Whine,” and explains, “Increasingly, Americans act as if they had received a lifelong indemnification from misfortune and a contractual release from personal responsibility.”3

Psychological Mindset

The psychological mindset evolved out of the fairly recent development of clinical psychology (including psychotherapy, counseling psychology, and marriage and family counseling), which was birthed in colleges and universities around 1950 and expanded through politics and money.4 Since that time, it has exploded to the extent that Dr. Ellen Herman describes psychology’s popularity and impact on the Western world this way in her book titled The Romance of American Psychology:

Psychological insight is the creed of our time. In the name of enlightenment, experts promise help and faith, knowledge and comfort. They devise confident formulas for happy living and ambitious plans for dissolving the knots of conflict. Psychology, according to its boosters, possesses worthwhile answers to our most difficult personal questions and practical solutions for our most intractable social problems

Herman also says:

In the late twentieth-century United States, we are likely to believe what psychological experts tell us. They speak with authority to a vast audience and have become familiar figures in most communities, in the media, and in virtually every corner of popular culture. Their advice is a big business.6

The kind of psychology that carries this power to turn people into victims is psychotherapy with its underlying psychologies, such as Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, along with an estimated 500 different counseling systems and their theories. After all, who has a perfect life, certainly none of the theorists, all of whom developed their systems out of their own personal lives and creative imagination?7

In her book Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People, Dr. Tana Dineen reveals what the so-called caring profession has become. She begins her book with the following words and the rest of her book proves her point:

Psychology presents itself as a concerned and caring profession working for the good of its clients. But behind the benevolent facade is a voracious, self-serving industry that proffers “facts” which are often unfounded, provides “therapy” which can be damaging, and exerts influence, which is having devastating effects on the social fabric.8

Dineen also says:

It is not news to say that psychology has become an influential cultural force or that society is becoming more and more filled with people who consider themselves victims who are psychologically needy in one way or another.

What is news is that psychology is manufacturing most of these victims; that it is doing this with motives based on power and profit (emphasis hers).9

While, indeed, there are real victims, the psychotherapeutic mindset has trivialized the horrors that some people have experienced by so expanding the meaning that now everyone qualifies if they want to. The role of victim can actually be quite enticing. Besides qualifying for sympathy from friends, engaging in endless psychological therapy centered on self, and gaining exoneration from responsibility and guilt, being a victim provides a new identity of being the hero or heroine in one’s own drama of overcoming horrendous obstacles in the grand quest for psychological healing. Rather than having to face the ugly fact of their own sin without excuse or reason or blame-shifting, they choose to be victims. Dr. Carol Tavris and Dr. Elliot Aronson describe the usefulness of victimhood that comes from recovered memory therapy in their book titled Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. They say:

Why would people claim to remember that they had suffered harrowing experiences if they hadn’t, especially when that belief causes rifts with families or friends? By distorting their memories, these people can “get what they want by revising what they had,” and what they want is to turn their present lives, no matter how bleak or mundane, into a dazzling victory over adversity. Memories of abuse also help them resolve the dissonance between “I am a smart, capable person” and “My life sure is a mess right now” with an explanation that makes them feel good and removes responsibility: “It’s not my fault my life is a mess. Look at the horrible things they did to me.”10

Psychological Mindset Christianized?

Yes, we are surrounded by a nation of victims with a therapeutic mindset, but wait—we are Christians! How does this affect those of us who have been given new life through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross? What does this have to do with the Gospel and with living the Christian life? Plenty!

Almost as soon as the romance of psychology took hold of Americans, it was embraced by Christians who believed psychological counseling theories and therapies would be useful for helping Christians. These psychological counseling ideas were brought into pastoral counseling classes in numerous seminaries. Next came the “Christian psychologists” who devised a plan to integrate counseling psychologies theories and therapies with Christianity, both for counseling believers and for instructing the saints about how to live the Christian life. And now, what is the advice people hear when they are struggling with emotional distress and problems of living? “You need counseling.” And, what they mean is professional counseling, psychotherapy and its underlying theories of the self. Why? Because they believe a lie that, in essence, says that the cross of Christ, the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of believers are not enough for people with emotional or relational problems of living and that Christians need what only psychological theories and therapies can do. This is because of what Sykes calls:

The triumph of the therapeutic mentality … which insisted upon seeing the immemorial questions of human life as problems that required solutions. The therapeutic culture provided both in abundance: The therapists transformed age-old human dilemmas into psychological problems and claimed that they (and they alone) had the treatment.11

This lie about the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of the saints not being sufficient for dealing with so-called psychological problems of living is promoted by numerous leaders and believed throughout the church. One of them is Dr. Bruce Narramore, Distinguished Professor at Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University, who says: “I think the critics [of psychology] need to ask, ‘Why are people so interested in psychology?’ The thought is that we ought to go back to the old way. But the old way wasn’t working.”12 Narramore says this without proof or evidence and thereby implies that for nearly 2000 years God failed to supply His children with the means of dealing with problems of living.

The integration of the theories and therapies of counseling psychology has succeeded in turning the body of Christ into a bunch of victims. If this were a book title, the subtitle could be “The Demise of Biblical Ministry.” In its eager embrace of this kind of psychology, the church has left its first love and fallen for the wisdom of man and “philosophy and vain deceit” (1 Cor. 2; Col. 2:8). That this kind of psychology is now regular fare in churches across America can be seen in the observation of Dr. Frank Furedi in his book Therapy Culture, in which he says: “A study of ‘seeker churches’ in the US argues that their ability to attract new recruits is based on their ability to tap into the therapeutic understanding of Americans.”13 He sees this as a preoccupation with the self, and, indeed, that is what it is all about—self!

All About Self

The focus of psychological therapy is on self and its problems from the perspective that the self is essentially good, but wounded emotionally by circumstances and other people. Therefore more and more Christians are seeing themselves as innocent victims with their “mistakes” and problems of living being due to other people and circumstances beyond their control. Worse yet, some, who have been convinced that the source of their problems is what happened to them as young children, spend months and years in therapy and/or in so-called inner healing. Some are trying to gain insight by remembering real events and some are searching for supposedly forgotten memories of abuse and neglect. Others are encouraged to see a figure of Jesus add something to the memory to heal or change it, but, since this is all in their imagination, they end up with a false Jesus. The idea in all of this kind of counseling and inner healing is that self has been harmed in some way and must be helped and healed.

Psychotherapy thus attempts to fix the self so that its so-called essential goodness can be experienced and expressed. The psychological mindset sees the problem as on the outside. The solution is found within the self, albeit with the help of those who have special psychological knowledge. Self is central and must be nurtured with self-love, self-esteem, and self-worth, all of which are supposed to lead to self-fulfillment, but which generally increase self-absorption, self-centeredness, and self-indulgence.

In contrast, the Word of God presents the truth about mankind, that we are sinners by nature and therefore not essentially good in ourselves. Romans 3:10 says: “There is none righteous, no not one” and verse 23 says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The problem of sin comes from within and the solution comes from outside ourselves, from God Himself through the cross of Christ, who bore our sin, and purchased our new life, which is received by grace through faith and lived by grace through faith.

Victim or Sinner?

One of the main goals of much counseling psychology is to relieve guilt so that individuals can feel better about themselves and thereby supposedly handle their lives more effectively. Helping an individual see himself as needy, emotionally wounded, and having been harmed or disappointed by others is one convenient way to sidestep personal responsibility, sin, and guilt. This is the opposite of the Bible, which provides the true remedy for sin and the only remedy for the human condition through Jesus Christ and all He accomplished to rid one of sin and guilt.

The whole of Scripture points to the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. Its focal point is Jesus Christ satisfying God’s wrath against sin and procuring forgiveness and new life for believers. Christianity is all about living the new life and reckoning oneself dead to the old life. Christianity is not about focusing on problems and on other people’s sins and shortcomings, and it is not about dredging up the past to fix the present. The Christian life is about confessing one’s own sin, walking according to the new life in Christ, and “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” towards the goal of the “high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13,14).

The early church had the one remedy for everyone’s present problems and past circumstances: the cross of Christ! The magnitude of each person’s sin against God from the cradle to the grave is more than anyone could bear to imagine, but Jesus took it all upon Himself so that he could give every believer new life. He, who knew no sin, died in the place of those who were by nature sin. He did not just come to fix the flesh (the old nature). He came to put it on the cross so that believers, by identifying with Him, could reckon themselves dead to the old and alive to the new.

Everyone has been adversely affected by the sins of others to some degree, but the adverse effects or the sinful tendencies from parents or sinful ways learned from them reside in the flesh (old nature). Our flesh is therefore the problem, not something outside ourselves, either past or present. Therefore, the Bible does not teach people to nurture their so-called “inner child” or to develop self-esteem or to probe their early childhood years to look for ways that adults failed them in any way. The Bible does not advise anyone to remember and re-experience past pain, disappointments, or even abuse for the sake of personal or spiritual growth. The Bible does not suggest that people must be healed emotionally before they can believe God or before they can grow spiritually.

Considering the grievous circumstances and the childhoods of many of the Gentile Christians, the early church had plenty of potential “victims” (many born and raised in slavery with the accompanying sexual and physical abuse and being treated as less than human). But, did the church treat them as victims needing to heal their emotional wounds or to remember the pain of the past in order to know God and to grow spiritually? No! The Bible does not portray mankind as victims, but as sinners. Jesus died for sinners, not victims!

The Way of the Cross

The way of the cross is a totally different way of dealing with serious life issues and problems of living. Rather than trying to remember the past and somehow rework painful memories through therapy or so-called inner healing, Christians need to reckon themselves dead to the past by identifying with Christ’s death and to live according to their new life in Christ. Everything needs to be taken to the cross instead of relived and talked about. Nevertheless, many of the people who promote this senseless return to the past agree that Christ died for our sins, but insist that many Christians still need healing from the past. However, digging up old memories for the purpose of changing one’s present life is counterproductive to the cross and in effect denies the finished work of Christ.

Jesus said, “It is finished.” So we say to fellow Christians: Identify with those words when you bring sin to the cross, your own sin and the sins committed against you. Recognize that Jesus suffered the pain and eternal consequence of those sins. He felt the pain and agony of every sin you have committed and the pain of every sin committed against you. He took it all and said, “It is finished.” If a memory with its pain comes back, treat it as a temptation from the enemy, who wants to rob you of the truth of what Christ did and to undermine your identification with Him, both in His death and resurrection. Satan always works to keep Christians struggling in the flesh, because that is where they are the most vulnerable and because he hates the life of Christ in every believer. He is most pleased when Christians walk according to the flesh or their old nature. Therefore, the devil is pleased with all forms of psychological therapy and related forms of inner healing, including Theophostic Prayer Ministry.14

Think Biblically, Not Psychologically

Christians need to think biblically when they read books about how to live and deal with problems of living. They need to guard their thinking when watching or listening to believers or unbelievers talking about how to deal with the issues of life and about what it is to be a Christian. They need to be alert to such expressions as: felt needs, rejection, broken lives, repression, denial, defense mechanisms, inferiority complex, sublimation, projection, transference, maladjustment, low self-esteem, the unconscious, hidden reservoirs, hidden memories, emotional wounds, emotional healing, codependence, addiction, compulsion, trauma, stress, identity crisis. Every behavior imaginable has the possibility of a psychological maldescription.

Utilizing psychological therapies or inner healing blinds Christians to the glory of the cross and the great love that was poured out for them. Those who are willing to face their own depravity and the sins they continue to commit after they have received new life and who honestly look at what Jesus bore in their place have a greater realization of God’s love. Jesus said, “To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:47). Thus, by seeing the magnitude of what Christ forgave them, believers know His love, and by knowing and receiving His love, are enabled to love Him back and His love in them flows out to others. The cross is the answer to all the pain of the past, and Jesus is the answer for every present problem of living. Here is the victory won by Christ and worked into the fabric of believers’ lives as they reckon themselves dead to their old life and alive unto Him. No wonder the enemy of our souls has invented such an enticing trap into victimhood!

Believers do not transform their lives through looking at the sins of others or by revisiting the past, but by confessing their own sin and believing that Jesus took it all. Believers need to leave their own sin and the sins committed against them on the cross and not try to remember, reconstruct, fix or transform the so-called inner child, which is actually the old nature or flesh. They are to live by the new life Jesus has procured for them, the new life that stretches forward into eternity. Colossians 2:6-10 says:

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

The Word of God continually calls believers back to their source of new life, back to faith in Christ and all he accomplished for living the new life. Believers are not called to be victims of their present circumstances or their past or of a powerful motivating unconscious supposedly formed during early life. They are to be walking by faith, growing in faith, and “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” That does not sound like the whine of the victims.

Furthermore, Paul warns believers not to be robbed of what they have in Christ through “philosophy and vain deceit” that turns them into victims. Psychological counseling theories are not science. They more aptly fall into Paul’s category of “philosophy and vain deceit.” Indeed, they resemble religion more than science. Dr. Thomas Szasz states the case very clearly in his book The Myth of Psychotherapy: “Herein lies one of the supreme ironies of modem psychotherapy: it is not merely a religion that pretends to be a science, it is actually a fake religion that seeks to destroy true religion.Ó15 Psychological counseling theories are collections of human opinions arranged in theoretical frameworks. They are human inventions based on the perception and personal experiences of the theorists themselves. They are “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith”(1 Tim. 6:20-21).

Even when Paul was beaten and left for dead, he did not see himself as a victim, but as a recipient of the very life of Christ by grace through faith. Therefore he declared: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Rather than victims forever seeking to be healed of emotional wounds, Christians are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), fully equipped for challenges, trials, disappointments, dangers, and all sorts of calamities. Christ has won the victory and “ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

Victimization shifts the attention away from one’s own responsibility for what is thought, said, and done. Victimization shifts attention away from one’s own sin and onto the sins of others committed against them. Victimization diverts believers away from the cross of Christ. Victimization robs them of gratitude for God’s unspeakable gift and thereby robs them of a close walk with Him. Turning Christians into victims weakens their faith and stunts spiritual growth. Every choice to walk according to the Spirit by grace through faith brings spiritual maturity. The choice is up to every believer, whether to be a psychologically defined and created victim or to be a biblically defined sinner saved by grace and growing into the likeness of Christ.

(PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter, May-June 2008, Vol. 16, No. 3)

“Just read your article on victims (PsychoHeresy )…

I used to feel like everything that I went through was not my fault. I was angry at God. My mom had mental illness, I was raped by 3 men, abused in my first marriage, boyfriend killed in accident, and blah blah blah. But one day that outlook changed. What was it? I took responsibility. I put myself in bad situations. I made poor choices that led me to those circumstances. I ignored God’s voice. I…I..I….I was the reason. Not God. Once I realized that, God was able to come in and take care of business. My relationship with God was mended. God was merciful and he blessed me beyond what I deserve. He is in control. Not me. Being the victim puts you in the driving seat—I was driving around in circles. That’s all being a victim does. Gets u nowhere in a hurry. I want God to be my driver. I don’t want the control. Let Him take me where He will.

But there are sooo many people who can make anything an act of victimization! They twist innocent words or events to make themselves the victim. It’s toxic for the soul. It eats away at the victim and seeps into those around them. It’s all about the rush. The attention. People can be quick to feed these lions with the food they seek. Dangerous.” anonymous

Endnotes
1 Charles J. Sykes. A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character. New York: St. MartinÕs Press, 1992, p. 11.

2 Ibid., pp. 14,15.

3 Ibid., p. 15.

4 Rogers H. Wright and Nicholas A. Cummings, eds. The Practice of Psychology: The Battle for Professionalism. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, Inc., 2001.

5 Ellen Herman. The Romance of American Psychology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1195, 1996, p. 1.

6 Ibid.

7 Harvey Mindess. Makers of Psychology: The Personal Factor. New York: Insight Books, 1988; Linda Riebel, ÒTheory as Self-Portrait and the Ideal of Objectivity,Ó Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Spring 1982.

8 Tana Dineen. Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. Montreal, QB: Robert Davies Multimedia Publishing, 1996, 1998, 2000, p. 15.

9 Ibid., pp. 17,18.

10 Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2007, p. 94.

11 Sykes, op. cit., p. 34.

12 Bruce Narramore, Christianity Today, May 17, 1993, p. 26.

13 Frank Furedi. Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age. New York: Routledge, 2004, p. 18.

14 See Martin and Deidre Bobgan. Theophostic Counseling: Divine Revelation? Or PsychoHeresy? Santa Barbara, CA: EastGate Publishers, 1999.

15 Thomas Szasz. The Myth of Psychotherapy. Garden City: Anchor/Doubleday Press, 1978, p. 28.

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Favorite Eternal Security “Proof” Text? [podcast]

Excerpt from the book Lie of the Ages

Does John 10:27-29 Prove “Eternal Security”?

WHO are Jesus’ Sheep? Defined by, in God’s Word.

John 10:27-29

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” ~ John 10:27-29

Verse 27 is the condition necessary to appropriate the promises of verses 28-29.

Those who believe that a man can never lose his salvation, use this John 10:28-29 text but ignore the prerequisite, the divinely given condition – v27. Watch this:

Firstly, in this passage Jesus identifies those sheep whom He makes the security promise to. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” In this we see one part divine and two parts the responsibility of the individual:

“I know them”—the divine part toward those who are truly in Christ, presently abiding (v. 27)
Those who are His sheep “hear” His “voice” and “follow” Him—the individual’s responsibility (v. 27)

The promise to be kept is a conditional promise which requires that we choose to continue to hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27-29). Many today wrongly detach our LORD’s words in verse 27 from verses 28-29. In doing so, they perpetrate their “eternal security” mythology.

The problem for the eternal securists is that v27 has been intentionally been ignored…. It’s the actual condition Jesus gives for receiving the assurance promises He then gives in v28-29.

Those who seek to spread the “once saved always saved” heresy use John 10:28-29 to their advantage and conveniently ignore the preceding words of Christ in verse 27. Verses 28-29 are promises of security to those who have been genuinely born again and are currently abiding in Christ – hearing His voice and following Him (John 15:1-6). Many ignore the previous qualifying words (v. 27) of Jesus where Christ tells us that only those who are hearing His voice and following Him are promised that they are secure and will never perish. There is a condition to being secure in Christ—knowing Him—which requires continuing to abide in Him, hear His voice and follow Him (see also John 15).

“Jesus will neither leave us nor forsake us, but we can leave and forsake Him by choosing our sins OVER His love, grace and mercy!” Dino Filardo

Eternal securists have been taught to selectively interpret Scripture while ignoring mountains of Bible truth, in order to come to a predetermined conclusion.

Many a false teacher has built his own ministry empire dishonestly peddling this passage. Take a closer look. Anchor the promise to be kept in verses 28-29 on verse 27 where Jesus identifies who His sheep are – those who hear and continue to hear His voice and continue to follow Him (present tense). The promise to be kept is a glorious and yet conditional promise which requires that the individual recipient of the salvation gift of God chooses to continue to hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27-29). Many today wrongly detach our LORD’s words in verse 27 from verses 28-29 of John 10. In doing so, they perpetrate their “eternal security” or otherwise called “once saved always saved” mythology. Beware as this was the first lie Satan told mankind, which led to the fall (Genesis 2:17; 3:4).

Instead of synthesizing the whole of Scripture, false teachers isolate certain verses for their own self-serving agenda and purpose (2 Corinthians 2:17, etc.).

The sheep Jesus’ promises are going to be kept are those who endure to the end, abide (remain) with Him (John 15:1-6). The Great Shepherd defines His sheep as those who are presently hearing His voice and following Him (present tense). John 10:27-29

It’s not difficult to mislead people in the direction of the sinful nature of their hearts – because then they can evade truly repenting which is a major life change and necessity for salvation. This is why Paul foretold of this hour and how men would “heap to themselves (false) teachers having itching ears.” (2 Timothy 4:3) “Itching ears” here represents unrepentant hearts.

OSAS people make a vain attempt at redefining the words of Scripture to fit their own self-serving agenda of lukewarmness, cross-less rebellion. For example they hyper-focus on “eternal” in the term “eternal life” while intentionally refusing to synthesize the whole of what Scripture states. They hyper-focus on the word “gift” and teach that a gift could never be lost which the rest of Scripture does not agree with. They then take the word “sealed” and make it to be permanent which it cannot possibly be because the same Greek word for “sealed” is used of Jesus’ tomb which we all know was NOT permanently sealed (Matthew 27:66). In this they bear false witness against the LORD and act like some Scriptures are more divinely inspired than others. This practice reveals the evil and deceit of their own hearts. Not just some Scripture in the Bible but rather “ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) It must all be synthesized, put together, compared (1 Corinthians 2:13). Error will result in the hearts and lives of those who do not search, study, and revere “ALL scripture” in God’s Word.

Eternal security deceivers don’t want to talk about Bible verses that contradict and expose their proof texts. You see, they don’t want to get awaken by the truth to the scam they’ve bought into. The wolves who they gullibly believe instead of God’s Word, taught them to cry “context, context” all while THEY are the beguilers who are taking Scripture out of context. Just like the demonic democrats in America, they accuse their adversaries of the exact thing THEY themselves are guilty of (Romans 2:1-3).

YOU are defending OSAS and yet you gave no Bible verses? Self-deception. If “once saved always saved” were true, WHY O WHY didn’t God tell us? Such a term, phrase, or concept appear no where in Scripture and the verses you use to “prove” it are taken out of their context. OSAS is undeniably the very first lie Satan ever told and it led to the fall of mankind from a HOLY God (Genesis 2:17; 3:4). If OSAS isn’t a doctrine of devils, nothing is! (1 Timothy 4:1-2)

Is the unchanging, Almighty God no longer “Holy, holy, holy” now that He sent His only begotten Son? (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) If He’s still holy, no unrepentant person with sin will enter His holy Heaven (Revelation 21:8, 27, etc.).

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Hebrews 12:14

HOW is it that so many treat the words of JESUS recorded in John 10 more divinely authoritative than the words of JESUS recorded in John 15? False teachers.

Most of the dupes who cite John 10:28-29 to “prove” they can never lose their salvation, 1. Don’t even know what the preceding verse says (v27), and 2. Have no clue what JESUS says in John 15:6.

“If a man abide (remain) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6

In this John 10 passage used by the unconditional eternal security crew to peddle their wares, some neglect to look closely at verse 27 to see who Jesus was specifically speaking to when He promised “they shall never perish.” “They” refers to those who “hear my voice” and “follow me.” According to verse 27 the promise of eternal security is conditional. Assurance of salvation is only to those who are presently following Christ. In verse 27 we learn that protection from judgment to come is only to those who are currently 1) hearing His voice, 2) known by Him, and 3) following Him. This is consistent with the message seen in the whole of Holy Writ.

“For if AFTER they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are AGAIN entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, AFTER they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit AGAIN; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:20-22

WHO did Jesus say His true sheep are?

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn. 10:27). According to these words of Christ, those who “know” Jesus and “follow” Him are given the promise that they will “never perish.” As long as the follower hears His voice and follows Him, they are assured “eternal life.” This is exactly what the Son of God taught just a few chapters later in John 15 where He says that if a branch that is in Him does not remain or abide in Him, that person will be cut off and cast into the fire (hell).

Those who abide or remain under the shadow of His holy and protective wing shall remain secure in Him (Ps. 91:1). The Good Shepherd here said: “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” No man can pluck us out of His protection except ourselves by our own decisions. We who are abiding are protected from the snare of other men drawing us away as we remain walking with the Son of God. If you’re tucked, you won’t get plucked. If you’re not tucked under the wing of intimacy with Jesus, you will, can, and are likely to be plucked out of His holy hand by your own sinful unbelief. The LORD told us “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).

It’s also notable that those who emphasize John 10 to convince themselves and others that they are “eternally secure”, don’t even know much less acknowledge the words of the Savior in John 15:1-6.

Telling.

“If a man abide (remain) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6

Jesus taught repeatedly that some would not continue to follow Him (“abide”) and hear His voice and would consequently “fall away.” There is record of some who once believed and then stopped believing (Lk. 8:13; 13:23-30; Jn. 6:66; Acts 8:14-23).

Lie of the Ages (the book)

WHY do eternal securists get all upset when their fairy tale is exposed? Well, they are hiding behind the thin veneer of this heresy, feeling all secure, emboldened to live as they please, feeling assured in their lukewarmness and sin … denying Jesus instead of self, refusing to take up the cross that Jesus commanded all who would follow Him truly (Luke 9:23-24). Christ’s apostle Paul speaks of self-serving “enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:18-19) What’s behind this myth? The Psychology of Eternal Security [book]

Another Example of the Twisting of Scripture

The eternal securists seek to justify their OSAS heresy by misusing the following passage…. but in this Paul is speaking of those who go to Heaven, the judgment of saints, and not those who fell away and won’t be there because they will be in hell. They will not be present when this happens….

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:13-15

One More….

Common Objection to Conditional Eternal Security….

“What about Romans 8:38-39 where it says nothing can separate us from the love of God?”

REPLY:

Simple: Notice the word LOVE not life. God will love us all the way into hell if we choose not to repent. His soul will even “weep in secret places for your pride” which comes before destruction (Jeremiah 13:17). The LORD is “Holy, holy, holy,” He’s just, and He will not ever coexist with sin. See the fall of lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Luke 10:18). The wages of sin is still death and the LORD will damn every soul that dies in sin, with no exception (Psalms 5:4; Habakkuk 1:13; Isaiah 6:3; Romans 6:23; Revelation 4:8; 21:8; 22:11, etc.). Read Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son Lk 15. Did the father love and miss his son? Yes. Did the father (represents God) go chase him down? No. The son who departed had to choose to return. Much truth there. Speaking of Romans, read 11:20-22. Now read 2 Peter 2:20-22 and the book of Hebrews.

1 John 2:19 is often also utilized to “prove” eternal security. Not.

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:19

Interestingly, the word “never” does not appear in this verse above which is so often used to “prove” OSAS. Let’s read it again with an objective mind. And, also remember what Jesus says about the primary importance of His teaching of the seed and the soil, the sower and the Word:

“And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” Mark 4:13

The honest student of the whole Counsel of God’s Word knows that numerous clear Bible truths reveal that a saved person can turn away from the LORD, so we know that the apostle John could not possibly be saying that a saved person could never depart from the LORD. In my opinion, this verse is the best argument the eternal security proponent has, yet it’s not enough. There must be two or three witnesses and not just one (2 Cor. 13:1). After a closer examination of this text, one will find that verse 19 does not teach or justify “once saved always saved.” When any one verse is taken to the exclusion of the whole Word of God, one will certainly misunderstand the doctrine of the LORD which can only be apprehended by “study.” (2 Tim. 2:15) This verse is like any other verse of Scripture – it must be taken in light of the entire Counsel of God. The context to be considered is 1 John 2:18-29).

In examining the context in which 1 John 2:19 is set, we see that false teachers whom John calls “many antichrists,” had come and were telling these believers that Jesus was not the Christ (v22).

Let’s look at verses 18 and 19 together:

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:18-19

Note here that it is specifically of these “antichrists” that John speaks and says that “if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

John was speaking of those who were once saved but then departed from the faith (1 Tim 4:1), they believed and then fell away (Luke 8:12-13) …. then departed from the believers in that fellowship.

Teddy Caldwell writes:

“OSAS insists that those are professing believers, but 1 John 2:18 says such people are antichrists. 1 John 2:22 says an antichrist is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who does that isn’t a believer and isn’t even trying to look like one.”

Concerning 1 John 2:19, Donald Stamps, in the Life in the Spirit Study Bible, writes:

“‘THEY WENT OUT FROM US.’ When the antichrists departed from their fellowship with true believers, they were not in a saving relationship with Christ. This allows for two possibilities: (1) They were never true believers to begin with, or (2) they had once been in a saving relationship with Christ but afterward abandoned their faith in Christ.”

Right here in verse 24 of this passage we see the doctrine of personal responsibility to “remain” in faithful obedience to the LORD or lose one’s place with God (1 Cor. 15:2; Gal. 6:9; Col. 1:23). This is a teaching found throughout Holy Writ – the divine requirement to stay saved or lose all in eternity, “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 7)

“Let that therefore abide (remain) in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. IF (denotes condition) that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:24-25

Verse 24 alone tells us that we cannot think that verse 19 means that someone who is at some point in right standing with God can never depart from Him and lose out. Also, verse 25 tells us that “eternal life” (not just rewards) is at stake and the promise contingent upon the believer abiding or remaining in that “which ye have heard from the beginning” which is the Gospel. “Eternal life” is assured as long as one is remaining rooted in Jesus Christ. This is the overwhelmingly consistent message of God’s Word.

In verse 26 John says “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” Verse 19 is written about the deceivers who sought to “seduce” these disciples John was addressing and not of true believers.

With all of Scripture in consideration, we can conclude that 1 John 2:19 is a specific example and not a rule of doctrine.

If you truly wish to search out this matter, let me encourage you to closely examine, break down and study this entire text (1 Jn. 2:18-29). In order to ascertain truth, one must compare the verse in question with all other related Scriptures, beginning with the context in which the verse is set (Isa. 28:9-10; 1 Cor. 2:13).

Go here for more on the misuse of 1 John 2:19.

Eternal Security / OSAS Exploded

The Damning Myth of Unconditional Eternal Security! [podcast]

HELL Awaits! SO YOU THINK YOU ARE ETERNALLY SECURE? WHO TOLD YOU THAT LIE? NOT GOD! IT SIMPLY DOESN’T MATTER HOW POPULAR A PREACHER IS – IF HE’S TEACHING SATAN’S FIRST LIE THAT CAUSED THE FALL OF THE HUMAN RACE – OSAS/ETERNAL SECURITY – HE’S A FALSE TEACHER, AN AGENT OF SATAN (Genesis 2:17; 3:4). OF COURSE he’s popular – he’s not preaching the cross but rather excuses for sin against a Holy God! RUN from that devil! You will be safe and eternally secure when you get to Heaven, not before. ARE YOU enduring sound doctrine today or walking […]

5 Soul Damning Sins Named! Learning from History! [podcast]

THE 5 SINS THAT KEPT ISRAEL (God’s own covenant people) OUT OF THEIR PROMISED LAND OF BLESSINGS and will keep us out if not relinquished. Friend, please read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 with all your might. Make this text your meat. The world seeks to romance sin but if God says it’s sin, that’s what it is. Toning down the terms changes nothing. Judgment Day is on the way. We are fighting the good fight of faith, “striving against sin” and “more than conquerors” over sin through Jesus who loves us and bought us with His own blood! (1 Timothy 6:12; […]

The Myth of Eternal Security [podcast]

“For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.” Psalms 73:27 BAD NEWS FOR CROSS-LESS COUNTERFEITS WHO HIDE BEHIND THE “ETERNAL SECURITY” SHAM: YOU WILL BE ETERNALLY SECURE WHEN AND IF YOU ARE WITH JESUS IN ETERNITY, NOT BEFORE! Can’t leave Christ after He saves you? Think again… dear one who continues to search for a way to justify your sin, for not truly repenting and laying down your life in this fleeting sinful world and overcoming (Luke 9:23-24; 14:27, 33; 17:33; 19:27; Titus 2:11-14; , etc.). All […]

Grace vs Holiness [podcast]

“The horrible travesty we have in America today is Christianity without holiness.” A.W. Tozer Grace and holiness come only from God. The LORD is Holy and He extends salvation by grace to repentant, believing sinners at the moment of conversion. Grave vs Holiness: WHY is one of these two so overwhelmingly overemphasized by today’s pastors and self-appointed “grace teachers,” when the other is prioritized by God as is demonstrated by the number of times it appears in Holy Scripture? Which word appears more times in the Bible?: Grace, or Holiness LET’S DO THE MATH: Comparing Grace and Holiness 170 […]

Articles

Laboring Fervently for Christ’s Body [podcast]

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.” Colossians 4:12-13

One source notes:

“Epaphras’ prayer is a powerful New Testament model of intercession found in Colossians 4:12. As the founder of the church in Colossae, Epaphras is described by the Apostle Paul as ‘wrestling’ or ‘laboring earnestly’ in prayer so that his congregation would stand mature, firm, and fully assured in the will of God.”

Jesus Heals the Paralytic Man who was Dropped Down to Him from the Roof

Mark 2

“1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.” Mark 2:1-12

The Dynamic Prayer Life of Epaphras: Life Changing Prayer Nugget!!!! [podcast]

Emulating Epaphras! LIFE CHANGER! Who are those top 3-5 people you pray for every morning? (rhetorical question) Okay, ever wonder how to pray for someone? You will never again have that wonder after your grab this 1 Bible verse! All who are learning to love God are then equally learning to love people – to love others and put them above ourselves (Philippians 2:3-5). Why not assertively, proactively have a list of people you are lifting in prayer every morning? Isn’t that what we can learn from brother Epap? WHO? WHAT? … Let us learn from the life of Epaphras. […]

Prayer Mission of Epaphras [podcast]

Praying daily, diligently, God’s will for others, changes you. EVER wonder how or what to pray for others? Wonder no more! Amazing! 1 Bible Verse to a changed life! The all encompassing prayer!!! Simple and biblical!!! Life changing! Never again wonder how or what to pray for others or yourself! Do you have specific people you lift in prayer each morning? “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:” 1 Samuel 12:23 WHEN you ask someone to “pray […]

Abiding

Abiding Under the Shadow of the Almighty [podcast]

“O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: Jeremiah 15:15-16

Dwelling “in the secret place of the most High”

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” Psalms 91:1-2

“In the secret place of the Most High – Spoken probably in reference to the Holy of holies. He who enters legitimately there shall be covered with the cloud of God’s glory – the protection of the all-sufficient God. This was the privilege of the high priest only, under the law: but under the new covenant all believers in Christ have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; and those who thus enter are safe from every evil.” Adam Clarke

“[Psalms] 91:1, 2 Jesus is the One who in a preeminent way dwelt in the secret place of the Most High, and abode under the shadow of the Almighty. There never was a life like His. He lived in absolute, unbroken fellowship with God, His Father. He never acted in self-will but did only those things that the Father directed. Though He was perfect God, He was also perfect Man, and He lived His life on earth in utter and complete dependence on God. Without equivocation He could look up and say, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust.” Believer’s Bible Commentary

Dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High [podcast]

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3 Prayer communion is inseparably connected with knowing God (John 17:3). Knowing the Father and the Son is the whole purpose for which He made you. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:3-4 Beloved of […]

The Cardinal Characteristic of Knowing God [podcast]

The word “love” appears 311 times in God’s Word. It’s one thing to know the Bible. It’s another thing to know the God of the Bible. “Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 This is why He created you – to know Him. “And this is life eternal (the whole purpose for it), that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3 The disciple has nothing more important […]